Nationwide Ban on Cell Phone Use in Cars?

A gruesome work zone collision involving two school buses, a semi-truck, and a pick-up prompted the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to recommend that all 50 states and the District of Columbia ban the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices (except GPS devices) for all drivers.

The NTSB's executive summary of the crash states that on August 5, 2010 in Gray Summit, Missouri a driver of a 2007 GMC Sierra pick-up rear-ended a stopped truck-tractor with no trailer.  Seconds later, the first bus in a convoy of two school buses ran into the pick-up and then the second bus rear-ended the first bus. The collision resulted in the deaths of the pick-up driver and a passenger in the first school bus, and 37 other people suffered minor to serious injuries.

The NTSB determined that the probable cause of this horrific crash was "distraction, likely due to a text messaging conversation being conducted by the GMC pickup driver."

The NTSB recommended that the Wireless Association and the Consumer Electronics Association encourage the development of technology features that disable the functions of portable electronic devices within reach of the driver when a vehicle is in motion again with the caveat that it may be used for emergencies.

Texting While Driving Doubles Reaction Time

A recent study by Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute found that texting, or emailing, while driving doubles reaction time and makes drivers more likely to miss a flashing light.


The study was composed of 42 drivers between the ages of 16 and 54 who drove on an 11-mile (17 km) closed test course while sending or receiving text messages, and again while focusing completely on the road.

In the interest of safety for both participants and the research staff, researchers minimized the complexity of the driving task, using a straight-line course that contained no hills, traffic or potential conflicts other than the construction zone barrels. Consequently, the driving demands that participants encountered were considerably lower than those they would encounter under real-world conditions.

The researchers then asked the drivers to stop when they saw a flashing yellow light and recorded their reaction time.  The typical reaction time without texting was between one and two seconds, but while texting it increased to three to four seconds, regardless of whether the driver was typing or reading a text.

The researchers also found that a texting driver was 11 times more likely to miss the flashing light.

The fact that the study was conducted in an actual driving environment is important. According to research manager Christine Yager most research on texting and driving has been limited to driving simulators, whereas this study involved participants driving an actual vehicle. While the researchers believed their results are more significant since the study was in an actual driving environment they wrote that, "it's frightening to think of how much more poorly our participants may have performed if the driving conditions were more consistent with routine driving."

Perhaps this research will reach some of Texas A&M's more influential elected alums.

Bounce House Hazards; Special Alert to Parents

A 2009 memo from the Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC") estimated that there were over 31,000 emergency department treated injuries associated with inflatable bounce houses in between 2003 and 2007 in the U.S.- that's over 17 trips to the emergency room a day.

The CPSC's memo also revealed that during that same period there were four reported deaths, most of which involved someone falling off or out of the inflatable and then hitting their head on the hard pavement nearby.

Now as summer vacations get underway parents will undoubtedly be hosting or taking their children to birthday parties or gatherings with inflatable bounce houses.  While these bounce houses look soft, safe, and fun for children of almost any age the CPSC's data tell a different story, and  a recent article in the Washington Post revealed several shocking stories of how improperly staked bounce houses have been blown across city streets, swept away by wind gusts, or toppled by excessive weight.

Before letting your child enter a bounce house or other inflatable jumping device make sure to check that:

1. The inflatable is properly secured and staked; 
2. The inflatable is not over crowded with children;
3. The inflatable is not tattered, worn or patched; 
4. Your child is never unattended and someone is always watching the inflatable; and
5. The air flow from the motor to the inflatable is not obstructed. 

Distracted Driving: A Test

Studies have shown that we're bad multi-taskers. The same research has also shown that we think we're good multi-taskers.  Unfortunately, when our confidence to multi-task translates into getting behind a car wheel and picking up a cell phone we become dangerous multi-taskers. This is because when we drive and talk on our cell-phones a variety of manual, visual, and more importantly, cognitive distractions impair our ability to do either task well.

Take this test to see how well you pay attention in a distracting environment.  

Toyota Recalls 308,000 Highlanders and RAV4s

According to a recent New York Times article by Christopher Jensen and recent filings with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) Toyota will recall nearly 308,000 Highlanders and RAV4s due to defects in the curtain shield airbag system.  According to the summary on file with the NHTSA, if the two sensors in the airbag sensor assembly fail nearly simultaneously the curtain shield airbag could deploy and the seatbelt pretensioner can activate which could injure an occupant. Toyota's recall covers about 214,000 RAV4s from the 2007-8 model years and 94,000 Highlander and Highlander hybrids from 2008.  Affected owners can call Totyota at 1-800-331-4331, or the NHTSA vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov. for more information.

If you have been injured by a defective Toyota Highlander or RAV4 airbag you should consider contacting a personal injury trial attorney to investigate this matter further and to help you determine what rights you may have to hold Toyota responsible.

Dog Attacks in Texas

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) 4.5 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, with one in five bites requiring medical attention.  Out of those attacked every year, children between the ages of 5 and 9 are the most at risk.

The CDC recommends that parents teach their children the following basic safety tips and review them regularly:

• Do not approach an unfamiliar dog
• Do not run from a dog or scream
• Remain motionless (e.g. "be still like a tree") when approached by an unfamiliar dog
• If knocked over by a dog, roll into a ball and lie still (e.g. "be still like a log").
• Do not play with a dog unless supervised by an adult
• Immediately report stray dogs or dogs displaying unusual behavior to an adult
• Avoid direct eye contact with a dog
• Do not disturb a dog that is sleeping, eating, or caring for puppies
• Do not pet a dog without allowing it to see and sniff you first
• If bitten, immediately report the bite to an adult

Unfortunately, even if you or your child takes every precaution around a dog there are some dog owners who fail to control their dogs and fail to warn others away from their dogs.  In Texas a dog owner can be charged with a third degree felony if their dog attacks someone and they had reason to know that the dog may attack. See Texas Health and Safety Code Sec. 822.005.

If you or a loved one has been attacked by a dog, you owe it to yourself and your community to report the attack to the authorities and to consider hiring a personal injury trial attorney to help you hold the dog owner responsible.